Inness was a skilled draftsman but eventually crafted landscapes in which topographical precision gave way to effects that echoed human moods and sentiments. By the 1860s, he had become attracted to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century Swedish theologian who preached that God was present throughout nature.

In this view of the Berkshire Hills, Inness blurs the details of the landscape to express his conviction that all material objects are spiritually charged. He objected strenuously when critics compared his methods to the broken brushstrokes of the French Impressionists, calling that style a materialistic system that denied “the reality of the unseen.”

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. “Selection VII”. Providence: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design,1977.